Posts tagged with 5%

The end is nigh…

June17

It’s been a long, and pretty crazy school year. I know it’s not in my usual style, but I’d rather not reflect on what went right or wrong. I’ve had a lot of time to second guess myself to the level of it being crazy-making over the last three months (earlier if truth be told). [...]

The problem with RttT and Its Ilk…

May2

I’ll warn you that this post does reflect some bitterness on my part. While my own situation is settling, I can’t help but realize most of the madness I’ve lived through in just the last two months –I really can’t believe it’s only been two, it feels like ages since this mess started– came about [...]

Peeking behind the scenes at a “turnaround” school…

April24

I realized that with all that has been going on these last few weeks, I had said explicitly what will be happening to me, and to my school. In the last week or so, some things have definitely taken a turn for the better, or have at least been decided on. So what does it [...]

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What’s it worth to you?

April18

After the Big Branch Mine disaster earlier this month,  I was reflecting on something I remember a college professor telling me about unions in coal mining. Her take was that European Miners Unions for a variety of reasons, were able to concentrate their efforts on improving working conditions, and the overall safety in the mines, [...]

What’s your price?

April17

Earlier this week I blogged about the Talent Transfer Initiative, Although this program is only for teachers who transfer to our school site, those of us here will be offered a “retention” bonus with amounts like $5,000 a year being thrown around. Yes, it’s not equal, which reminds me of one of my favorite jokes [...]

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License

All of Ms. Mercer's text, lessons, graphics, etc. are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial 3.0 License. Creative Commons License

Howdy! I teach sixth grade at an elementary school in Sacramento, CA. I started my career in Oakland, Ca, and moved here to Sacramento in 2001.

My goals are:

  1. To reflect on how I am teaching, and how effective my practices are;
  2. To integrate and embed technology in the curriculum I teach; and,
  3. To network with other like-minded educators.

To help me reach my goals, I use this blog as a place for me to reflect on best practices, and the practices I’m (trying to) putting in place in my classroom.

My philosophy of teaching is pragmatic (I’ll use what works, and I’m not particularly wed to one theory or another). I want students thinking critically, and engaged in what they are learning (Constructivism), but I know that many of my students (language learners and others) need schema, scaffolding, and explicit modeling, so I’m not afraid to use those as well.

My philosophy of technology education is that teaching comes first, but technology is an awesome tool to use to engage students, and help them create stuff. I prefer that the learning goal guide the use of technology, and not the other way around.

That’s the big picture. Other salient details are that I can be sharp, but I prefer to see the positive and connect with others rather than fighting and argufying. I can be hard on others (having high expectations), but no harder than I am on myself.

I can be contacted here.

Disclaimer

The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not those of Sacramento City Unified School District.